Tag Archives: books

Day 23 — blue Shakespeare + Capital unCanberra

Over the past couple of days I read Shakespeare’s Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature by Stuart Kells [& if books could be considered clickbait, the subtitle is definitely one big troll]. I’d hoped to find something interesting about said library for the basis of a poem. Alas the book is blotchy, all over the shop, often only tangentially or tenuously related to its title. So, I’ve had this idea as a backup as one of the Lawrence’s Maxims series & thought WTH even though it’s not a Saturday (no-one’s probably noticed that’s been a thing) I’m going to be writing about a big old cheap old poor quality book.

Today’s Factoid is one of the few interesting (unknown to me) facts I plucked from Shakespeare’s Library. 

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Day 23 Factoid – Capital Bill

Capital 

Back at the turn of the 20th Century
when Melbourne & Sydney were duking it out
to see who’d be our fair federation captain
some truly godawful names were bandied about*

from mouth manglers like Meladneyperbane & Sydmelperadbrisho (sorry Darwin)

flora & fauna inspired: Acacia, Cookaburra, Kangaremu, Wattleton, & Eucalypta (one I actually quite like)

to the cheeky laconic larrikinesque: Gonebroke, Swindleville, Thirstyville, & Home (surprised Sweet Home wasn’t on the end)

geographically motivated: Austral City, Pacifica, Southern Cross (the fact there already was one in WA existed put the kibosh on this choice toot sweet)

poetically out of place: Aurora, Climax (saucy), Eden, Harmony, Olympus, Paradise, Regina

bureaucratically bland: Captain Cook, Caucus City, Federalia, Frontierland, Hopetoun, Labourville, The National City, New Era, Union City, Unison

& whatever the hell these are: Australville, Aryan City (disturbing), Back Spur, Commonwealth Circular City (huh), Cooksturta, Myola, Wheatwoolgold (you’re just throwing words together now)

As well as — SHAKESPEARE — 

How different might the city of Burley Griffin be with suburbs named Prospero & Capulet & Guildenstern for kidlets to grow up in

*about 700 or 800 reportedly were officially logged & assigned a number
though I’ve been unable to discover the complete list.

Day 22 — conundrums + more conundrums

The idea for this one has been nagging at me for several days & many of the pairs popped (or rather worked their way) into my head as I drove home from work into the setting sun. The Poetic Factoid today is actually many Factoids in one — & picks up where the first poem leaves off (there was so much I couldn’t fit in to the top poem; hence part ii).

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the great moral conundrum of our time

Life gives us choices. Constantly.

From little easy ones like:  boxers or briefs.
Vampires or werewolves. Dogs or cats.
Chips with vinegar or sauce. Autumn or spring.
Reddit or Twitter, iPhone or Android.
Toilet paper over or under. Moon or sun.
Glass half full or half empty. Running marathon
or sitting on the sofa sensibly with a book.

To big hard ones like:  pineapple on pizza
Be rich or be in love. Be talented or popular
(obviously not everyone can be both like me).
Live by the ocean or in the mountains.
Cold pizza for breakfast or hot crumpets 
for dinner. Window or aisle. Sweet or savoury.
Fiction or non-fiction. Venice or Reykjavík.

& here’s where we arrive at the prime conundrum:
Rereading old favourites or trying out new books.

If you’re looking for some wise words of wisdom from me here to guide 
your way forwards, sorry to disappoint — I’ve yet to solve this myself.

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Day 22 Factoid — reading choices

Part ii: more reader-specific conundrums

Buying more books or reading the ones you have.
(Warning: this is a strawman option 
hence why it is first on the list)
Comfy at home or in a cozy cafe.
Morning or evening; day or night.
In bed or on couch. Silence or with music.
One book at a time or many books at once.
Indoors or outdoors. Hardcover or paperback.
Audio or physical. Sci-fi or fantasy. 
Or crime or romance or historical or thriller.
Or history or memoir or nature writing.
Series or standalones. Classics or new releases.

Tea or coffee or hot chocolate while reading
Or Sauv Blanc or whiskey or GnT or even water.

Day 21 — Mycology & mushroom wisdom

This was a scrap of poem from earlier in the month that wasn’t working, I threw away the last two verses & did something cool to the rest. It’s gone from a meh! to a YEH! in my eyes. The Factoid was fun too.

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Mybookcology 

i know : i already own more : than can possibly : be read in the rest : of my lifetime (of several even) — even if : i did nothing else : in the burgeoning biosphere : & despite my relatively brisk : reading speed — yet still they accumulate : like mycelium : threading through : the loam of my life : the soil of my soul : subconsciously : drawing them all into me : gifts from friends moving house : family gifts given : then returned upon ‘completion’ : online orders clicked in the long : insomnia laden : post-midnight hours : (when, i have to admit : they seemed much wiser choices) : intermittent  acquisitions : from those rare impulse buys : when i just happen : to walk into a store : for a few moments : of me time : & interlinking : when a client : wants to go opshopping : i can’t very well say no : microscopic structures : breathed in : breaking me down : enriching my being : there’s a kind of order amongst them : invisible connections : a sense of sorts : thriller : crime : historical : fantasy : sci-fi : paranormal : literary : Australian : & so on : but never enough space : for the system to flourish : windows blocked now : by cases : the gloom : forest floor dark : everything getting less light : small stacks mushrooming : from the floor : spores stretching for the ceiling

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Day 21 Factoid — talking mushrooms

fungigence

fungi : have an electrical language : much like 
what goes on : with our neurons & synapses

they even just might : communicate with 
neighbours : using words : in simple sentences

& this ancient : humous-hugging kingdom : does it all 
without brains (hey, it works for some humans)

Day 18 — my antilibrary + definitions

A word I’ve long liked given I live within one is antilibrary — so today’s poem explores that idea in a magic realism kinda way. The Factoid is presented for those who do not know what an antilibrary is but want to know. Lifted straight from the dictionaries it is.

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My Antilibrary has no End

wake again : from the ancient childhood dream : drifting high above the sea : toward the house on the summit : of a mountain range long gone : our eternal sanctuary : respite : from mortal mistakes : our sempiternal palace : our immutable mansion : our cosy cottage : that scales in size as required : especially for us : where we go : our safe house : between sentences

the home that has held us : healed us : for centuries : millennia : & more

all my books : that endless room beyond my library : where exists every book never written : as well as all the ones that were : including many of my own : past present yet to be : books lost forever : in the fires of Alexandria : in fear driven religious pogroms of every stripe : in rising damp : in neglect : in forgotten buildings falling down quietly return to earth slow soft embrace : lost ledgers from ancient Egypt : Greece : the Xia dynasty : companions to the Bhagavad Gita : biographies of Buddha : Incan glyphs : Mayan & Aztec hieroglyphs : tomes from Timbuktu & Tibet : archives even from Atlantis, Avalon, Tír na nÓg : scrolls from beyond the stars 

wake again : from the room : where once i wandered : nightly : seeking that volume : that would save : my life : from turning away 

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Day 18 Factoid – an actual dictionary definition

antilibrary  / ˈantiˈlʌɪb(rə)ri / 

The [rather impressive] collection of books you own but have not yet read, for whatever reason, but would still like to one day, when they’re needed, all of which keep you intellectually curious & humble. Books which reminds you that there’s still plenty you don’t know (yet). Plenty you don’t even know you don’t know. These innumerable beautiful unread books, should not be viewed as failures, but as sources of inspiration & future learning. & you should not stop buying them, simply because shelf space is getting a little tightish or your mother tells you you should.

Day 16 — reply to KonMari + copies sold

I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a response to KonMari & her method of keeping houses clean for a long while. There’s possibly another couple of related poems still to come out cos this wasn’t what I was expecting when I sat up to the puta. The Factoid is a purely economic one.

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The Life-Changing Magic of Having All The Books

Dear Marie Kondo,

As a matter of fact.

This book does spark joy.

As does this one.

And this.

And this stack here.

This stack, this stack & this very tall stack by my bed.

Here also this table full of books.

This desk with them all crowding my computer screen sometimes threatens to collapse … but it would be a joyous kind of collapse if they ever did.

This box in the hallway (except when I stub my toe on it going to the bathroom but that’s only like once, maybe twice a week) plenty of joy.

And once I’ve unpacked the other 17 boxes, no doubt they’ll spark joy too.

This bookcase. Big joy sparker. 4 cases, 8  shelves each, all screwed together. Floor to ceiling. Joy Joy Joy.

That room of books. 

The room beyond it.

The compactus full of books. Joy.

The ATCO outside full of non-fiction.

The shipping container stocked with spares.

Joy to my world, the books are here.

I don’t care if I’ve only ever vaguely dreamt of reading this book or wondered wispily that I would like to one day read this other book again or if I probably never will pick up this third book and read it cover to cover. Even forgotten I own that book. Simply don’t care. They all spark joy in me. Indeed giddy euphoria. Sheer unbridled glee. Manic bliss. Contentment.

30 volumes might do you at any one time, but I’ll stick with my 30,000, thanks all the same.

gareth

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Day 16 Factoid – She’s sold a lotta books

copies sold

TL-CMoTU
may have been 
translated 
into 44 languages
&
MK
you may have
sold more than 
14 million copies

— but not to me
you haven’t

Day 13 — aphorisms & platitudes + pearls

Read the latest Rupi Kaur today & I gotta confess. I just don’t get her Instapoesy thang. So much is just banal platitudes that have been done better dozens of times before (some of her longer poems about the migrant experience are actually kinda of interesting) — but the Temu-grade aphorisms do nothing for me. Anyhoo this is a pseudohomage to her by tweaking/reworking some of my fave reading memes.

The Poetic Factoid comes out of learning about Pearls of Wisdom.

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reading pl(attitudes)

1.
SIX MOTIVATIONALS
i.
You can’t read in bed all day …

… unless you start 
nice & early in the morning.

~

ii.
One does not simply 
walk into a bookstore …

… without an authorised list
detailing which specific book(s) 
you are going to purchase.

Bwahahahahahahaha hahahahahahaha huh 

~

iii.
Autumn is here. Winter coming …

… time to make like a scout & prepare
by ensuring you have between 33-42 
new books in your TBR stacks.

If you do not: to the bookshop — now!

~

iv.
Bookworms are cute
bookwyrms are better.

Our hoards of treasure
are ever so much bigger.

~

v.
If anyone needs me …

… I’ll be reading

WARNING: don’t need me.

~

vi.
I love books, my doggo
reading, & maybe 3 people.

You are not one of them.
Go.

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2.
FOUR DEVOTIONALS
i.
My partner issued an ultimatum: 
Look. It’s books or me. Hmmm.
Was reading a Fielding novel last week
& I remembered her name. Aemelia.
Anna?  Anastasia perhaps?
Something ending with A anyway.
Or starting with it …

~

ii.
Tip to spice up your love life.
Get yourself pleasantly tipsy
Go to your fave online bookstore.
Spend up big. Sit back & wait
& see what the universe delivers you.

~

iii.
My ideal partner when I say
Turn me on:

Walks over
Whispers in my ear
Wanna go to the bookstore?

Instant goosebumps.

~

iv.
My ideal partner when I say
Talk dirty to me:

It’s cold out
It’s almost dark
I’ve done all the chores
There’s leftovers in the fridge
I lit the fireplace in the library an hour ago
The room is oh-so-toasty warm
I’m making us hot chocolates
It’s the weekend tomorrow 
I think that was thunder
It’s starting to rain

& while I was out earlier
I bought you the latest book in the series you love

~

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Day 13 Factoid – the usefulness of Wisdom Pearls

Pearl of Wisdom

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding,  
for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
                                                                                                   Proverbs 3:13

TIL I learnt that Pearls of Wisdom 
have morphed from genuine spiritual insight 
to more rustic ironic home truths 

& I got to thinking wouldn’t it be 
wonderful if there was an actual mystic
Aunty Pearl who travelled the world

Dispensing advice to everyone annually
that you had to act on regardless of whether
you agreed with it (especially if you didn’t)

That combover doesn’t work 
— get a buzz cut, dye what’s left blonde
& go bald with chutzpah!

He’s never gonna leave his wife
Kick him to the curb sweetie
— find someone worthy of you!

You hate accountancy. Quit your job.
Play your guitar. You’ll never make much money
— but you’ll be happy till you die!

Anyone harbouring doubts over her advice
could come together on the seventh day of every month
surrounded by supporters to help them break out of their shells 

Day 11 — sacred spaces + holy books

The poetry volume I read today was On the Wire, assembled by friends of Adelaide poet John Pfitzner (& one of my two fellow poets along with Rachael Mead in New Poets’ 17) after his death.  In that collection there’s a poem called “Sacred Place”. I combined this theme/idea with a NaPoWriMo prompt from a few days ago which I’ve been keen to try. It’s a form poem & I always like to do at least a couple of them during this month especially if I’ve never written one before. The form & idea seem to blend very well.

The ghazal originates in Arabic poetry, and is often used for love poems (especially spiritual/divine love). Ghazals commonly consist of five to fifteen couplets that are independent from each other but are nonetheless linked abstractly in their theme; and more concretely by their form. In English ghazals, the usual constraints are that:

the lines all have to be of around the same length (formal meter/syllable-counts are not employed);

and both lines of the first couplet end on the same word or words, which then form a refrain that is echoed at the end of each succeeding couplet.

Another aspect of the traditional ghazal form that has become popular in English is having the poet’s own name (or a reference to the poet – like a nickname) appear in the final couplet.

The Poetic Factoid came out of a google concerning THE Most Sacred/Holiest Books, of which oddly, there was little consensus. 

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sacred spaces: a ghazal

my 4 poster bed was chosen cos it also holds books
softest safest sublimest place i know to read books

air chairs under ancient elms float light as words
drift in & out of wispy worlds as i read books

Dorothea’s wingtip chair by the window more
a chairshelf ATM but where i’ve often read books

outdoor setting made from an old oak barrel 
there beneath the silver birch i read books

north-facing scorched wide-armed wooden bench 
in autumn setting sunshine i love to read books

beautiful bench of ceramic fish in the shade
an elegant corner to stay cool & read books

— the truth is every space becomes sacred
every time gareth takes out one of his books

settles in & experiences the miracle of reading

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Day 11 Factoid – Holy Books

most holey

google ain’t too definitive
regarding the holiest book
there are a few frequently 
mentioned contenders

Christianity’sBible(Old&NewTestaments)Islam’sQuranJudaism’sTanakh&TalmudHinduism’sBhagavadGita
VedasUpanishadsPuranasBuddhism’sTripitaka(PaliCanon)Sikhism’sGuruGranthSahibTaoism’sTaoTeChing
Jainism’sAagamConfucianism’sAnalectsShintoism’sKojikiNihonShokiZoroastrianism’sAvestaBaha’iFaithth
eKitábiAqdasKitábiÍqánScientology’sDianetics&TheLatterDaySaints’BookofMormonAnotherTestamentofJ
esusChristakaAnAccountWrittenbytheHandofMormonuponPlatesTakenfromthePlatesofNephi
among others

a lot of work working out the best one

my suggestion for a smaller list
Cosmos. Carl Sagan. The. End.

Day 07 – following your bliss + buying happiness

I have a bucket load of ideas I’d like to get to this month when it comes to books & reading. (Hmm, odd that.) Sometimes it’s hard to choose. Not today. This one grabbed me ideas brain & away we went. So, presenting one of the many ideas which explore the various dream/idyll lives I would live if I could.

The Factoid Poem addresses the very real & pressing question: does buying books make you happy?

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bliss following, version 1

If you follow your bliss you put yourself on a track that has been there all the while, waiting for you.
— Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

the bliss dream : or the first iteration of it at least : is to purchase a second hand : double decker bus : paint it Anne of the Gable green : ensure it is equipped with titanium grade shock-absorbers : & a highly powerful yet surprisingly fuel efficient engine : fit out the upstairs with comfortable living quarters : while downstairs : as many empty bespoke bookcases as can logically & logistically be arranged : then to spend a year : driving round Great Britain : (pleasant companion/co-driver optional) : visiting key literary hotspots : i’ve always wanted to experience : & : more importantly : slowly filling up those bookshelves : by popping in to every second-hand bookstore : i can get to : along the way : ending up in Hay-on-Wye : at the end of May : for their magnificent festival : by which time : my exhausted & overworked bus : will probably be so weighed down : with wonderful new acquisitions : i’ll need to park it in a field somewhere nearby : & proceed to read my way : through the lot

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Day 07 Factoid – Psychological Studies concerning buying books analysed in depth & detail

Can Buying Books Make You Happy? 
Psychology Says, Well, Duh!

this poem explores the psychology 
behind buying books 
                                    … & being happy

it’s well known that if you buy experiences 
not material objects the happiness 
hangs around lots longer

books are material objects
yet in opening them up & reading them
experiences are being experienced

Ipso facto sum — which is good

psychology also praises personality-guided-spending
that is: spend your money in accordance 
with your personality & you’ll be happy

ergo an introvert buys books = happy
avid reader buys some sort of icky old experience 
where they don’t have any time to read = not happy

Quid pro quo — which is also good

so what’s the conclusion 
of all this comprehensive analysis? 
yes. buying books does make you happy!

[i get that’s how this whole poem started 
but we had to do some rigorous sciencey things
to shut up all the negative nellie naysayers out there]

of course i must conclude with the caveat
too much of anything can be bad
// hang on, wait, what’s that? 

new research now claims
no such thing as too many books
(OMFG! what a relief!)

Dona eis requiem — which is all very good

Day 06 — collecting books + obsessions

Collecting is a strange thing. It’s sometimes hard to explain why one does it. For example, I like things to do with chickens. So I have prints, statues, sculptures, plates, even a pair of bookends featuring chooks.

So too with books. I have many diverse interests (more specific than just big genre-size categories: fantasy, science-fiction, historical, crime, or non-fiction like science [itself having many subcategories I collect: physics, the universe/astronomy, nature/biology, the elements, etc], history [WW1&2, British/Australian, Palestine/Israel, etc], politics, travel writing, & so on) or the work of specific favourite writers that I must own everything of theirs they write.

Sometimes I acquire small collections about topics I think I might one day write about. Thus I have numerous books about Gold, Winemaking, Christmas, Lighthouses, Chocolate, & so on.

But then there’s sets of books I’m simply compelled to buy. No matter how awful they might be. Even if I’ll never read them. Simply because they fall into one of my Pet Loves categories. They make up the matter for this poem.

The first quote that I saw upon googling for my Poetic Factoid broke me. I knew I couldn’t improve on it. Thus what you get today is pretty brief … but I hope I’ve been a little creative with its form.

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collectabilia: pet loves

Foxes, Wolves, Owls, Crows, Ravens
any book with these words
in the title must become mine 
   (several, several times)

Cornwall
sirensong, family ancestry, Famous Fivery
long ago looking at Land’s End in an atlas 
& wanting to watch the sun set over the sea there

Venice
love affair with a magical city
began long before i ever travelled there
spent more time in fictional Venice than La Serenissima herself

Heron
less common to come across these 
but treasure every quirky title concerning
my gangly soul spirit animal

Hare
love their wild solo madness 
many of these titles are delightfully illustrated
children’s books — which is okay by me

Booker winners
an ever growing bookcase 
chronologically filled with annual shortlistees
& winners — I’ve even read some of them

still there’s many more: Dogs, Dandelions, Bees, 
books on Eden Valley (not the one I live in
but the English one I’d like to live in)

to be honest — the list probably never ends 
just diverges into smaller 
& smaller subsets

of one

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Day 06 Factoid — Is book collecting is an obsession?

Jeanette Winterson wrote “Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.” Discuss. 

Ummm, 

what
               Jeannette
                                         said!

Day 04 – libraries II: mine + others

This is the idea I started (or rather) thought I was going to develop yesterday but that rapidly roared off into the Library of Alexandria. So I’ve come back to it today. And my oh my. If it isn’t a cracker. I’m very pleased with it.

Today’s Poetic Factoid was one I didn’t not have to google. It comes from the truthiness of my own life. Ignore it at your peril.

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The Once & Future Library

while i like : the idea : of libraries : there is only : one library : i’m really interested in : my own : my chaotic : sprawling across : 5 rooms, a hallway, a hut & multiple boxes in the shed : piles skyscraper stacked : replica forests upon tabletops : boxes under desks : beneath beds : double layered shelves : bookcases hiding behind bookcases : gloriously chaotic : idiosyncratic : once & future library : for what is the good : to me : of a book : in someone else’s collection : answer : there is none : of course : now some (mean-spirited : niggardly : unpleasantly nit-picky some) might counter : what is the good : of a book : in your collection : if you cannot find it : & while this argument : has merit : minute traces only : there are many wonderful acts : that can happen : while the search : for the holy tale : is undertaken : a book read many years ago : may be rediscovered : & rereading commenced : right there : where you stand : & time & place & purpose : is for a few moments : forgotten : superseded even : while you comprehend : transcend : ascend : a book : you forgot you ever bought : may come to light : exciting you : with your foresight : a book : you don’t remember : ever even seeing : before : may pop out to delight you : or frighten you : & sometimes : on those rare occasions : the actual book sought : may itself : be unearthed : & then : the satisfaction : of having your own : over-the-top : ridiculous : you’ll-never-read-all-those-books-if-you-live-to-be-a-1000 : one of a kind : here&now : once&future : libraries : suddenly makes : utter : perfect : sense

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Factoid Day 04 – borrowing books

Nor a lender be

Heads up.
If you lend me a book.
Chances are.
I will not.
Give it back to you.
I might say I will.
Often.
Repeatedly promising.
But. Listen up.
I. Will. Not.
You had your chance.
But you gave it up.

Except you Mike. Of course I’m bringing yours back.*





(*But I’m not. I’m really not. I appreciate the donation though.)